Destination Guide: Columbus Ohio
View of Downtown Columbus
Columbus, Ohio, is the 14th largest city in the United States and is home to Hashtag 59. We realized we never did a guide to our backyard! Columbus is also home to a number of large corporations, including Nationwide Insurance, Chase Bank, Huntington Bank and Wendy’s. Since our hometown is growing more and more, we wanted to give you a destination guide to Columbus!
Things to Do in Columbus Ohio
Columbus Museum of Art, located in the downtown’s Discovery District, has both a standing collection of local artists and a rotating collection with museums all over the world. In 2015, the museum renovated and expanded, making way for an additional 375 works to be on display, including Mel Chin’s Spirit, which has its own room dedicated to the work of art. Word to the wise: Sunday’s are free!
Take a stroll through German Village. The area was settled in the 1800’s by German immigrants. The area boomed between 1840 and 1914, until the area fell into disrepair and dilapidation in the 1950s and the city demolished 1/3 of the neighborhood to make way for a new highway system. In the early ‘60s, a group of dedicated historians got together and started renovating the historic homes and created the German Village Commission. The area is now on the National Registry of Historic Places and cute.as.a.button! Check out The Book Loft to get lost in the 32 rooms of books! Pistacia Vera has delicious French macaroons and coffee. For dinner or drinks, you can’t go wrong with The Sycamore. Make sure to take a stroll through Schiller Park!
The Short North, once known for its galleries, is now the epicenter of shopping and dining in Columbus. Nestled between downtown and The Ohio State University’s campus, you can’t miss it. you come here, plan to leave your car behind and walk the area….parking is tough to find. For shopping, you can’t go wrong with popping into Tigertree, Homage and The Candle Lab. Visiting on the First Saturday of the month? You are in luck: it’s Gallery Hop and all the galleries, shops and restaurants stay open later.
COSI stands for Center of Science and Industry and is a great place if you are traveling with kids, it’s raining or you just want something fun to do! The 320,000 square foot building includes dinosaur exhibits and a science-based adventure for families of all shapes and sizes! If you are interested in adult-only fun, the museum hosts a 21-and-over event the first Thursday of each month.
Columbus Food Adventures hosts food tours throughout Columbus, with either walking or bus tours, including taco trucks, brunch, dessert, coffee and even food tours throughout German Village, Worthington, Grandview and the Short North.
Places to Eat in Columbus Ohio:
North Market is hands down the best place to stroll around and sample a number of food items, including delish momo’s from Momo Ghar, pretzels from Bretzel and vegetarian items from Little Eater. Combine that with all the spices, kitchen cookware and flowers to tempt you and you have a nice little afternoon stroll!
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream is maybe our best-known spot in all of Columbus. The first Jeni’s is inside the North Market, but she has outposts throughout the city, including the Short North, German Village, Grandview, Worthington, and Dublin. Try the original, Salty Carmel, or another favorite, Brambleberry Crisp. In fact, try as many as you want….Jeni’s encourages it!
Northstar Café is rooted in fresh, farm-to-table food. Known for their brunch and lunch, it will get busy; but don’t worry, the line goes fast. Locations are in the Short North, Clintonville, Westerville and Easton. Try their vegetarian burger, Northstar Salad, or Pancakes!
The Sycamore is a tiny, neighborhood eatery tucked into German Village. The place is pretty small, so get reservations if you can! Their beef cheeks sandwich is really poutine…get it!
If you are lucky, the Assistant Manager (ASSMAN for short) of Seventh Son will have drinks or breakfast with you!
Places to Drink in Columbus Ohio:
Located in the Italian Village neighborhood of Columbus, Seventh Son serves locally crafted brews in their space. If it’s nice out, the garage doors will be open and Otis Reading will be playing on the turntable. They also have a rotating food truck selection, so check out their website for details. If Challah is there, have their chicken sammie!
Land-Grant is located in the upcoming Franklinton neighborhood, close to COSI. Their name comes from the fact that all public colleges are Land Grant institutions and this is as close to a hipster sports bar as they come. Try the Stiff Arm for a good IPA and grab a pork sandwich from RayRay’s, the popular barbeque spot out front.
Located next door to Harvest Pizzeria, Curio is its fancy cocktail-loving cousin. It gets super crowded, so try and get there before 7 if you can. Bonus: you can order pizzas from Harvest at Curio. It’s also a great late-night spot, especially on the patio in the summer!
Fox in the Snow is THE place to go for any type of coffee drinks and instagram photos! They recently opened another spot in German Village....be warned, it gets crowded very fast.
Places to Stay in Columbus Ohio:
Le Meridian, The Joseph in the Short North is a hop, skip and a jump away from The North Market, The Short North and all the galleries.
The GV Guesthouse is located within the German Village neighborhood and is close to The Sycamore.
AirBnB has a ton of great options as well! Most of them are inexpensive and located close to downtown in Clintonville, Victorian Village or German Village. (use this code is you have never used AirBnB before)
I could have written a book on great places to go in Columbus, so give us a shoutout if you need some additional planning help! Just comment below and sign up for our emails; you'll receive all our new destination guides and a free from us!
Because Adventure Feeds the Soul,
Amy K and the #Hashtag59 Team
